A bill introduced in the California State Assembly would require teachers, counselors or public school employees to alert parents if their children publicly identified as transgender at school.
AB-1314, introduced by Republican Assemblymembers Bill Essayli and James Gallagher, would give public schools three days to notify parents in writing should their child:
– Identify at school with a gender that doesn’t align with the gender stated on their birth certificate, official records, or sex assigned at birth.
– Use sex-segregated school programs and activities, such as athletic teams and competitions or facilities that do not align with the child’s sex on their birth certificate, official records, or sex assigned at birth.
During a news conference on Monday, Essayli, who represents cities in Riverside County, including Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Norco, said, “Public policy should never presume that a parent does not have the best interests of that child.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democratic representing San Francisco, Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City in Northern California, condemned the proposed legislation.
“A DeSantis-style bill was just introduced in CA to require teachers/counselors to inform parents if a kid id’s as a gender not on birth certificate (sp),” Weiner tweeted. “Even if the kid isn’t ready to come out to their parents. Even if ratting the kid out risks violence at home. Nope, not in CA.”
Wiener was apparently making reference to gender identity bills Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law.
Essayli responded to Wiener’s criticism saying the senator should “read the bill.”
The bill seems unlikely to pass in California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature, and in the off chance it did advance to the Governor’s desk, Gov. Gavin Newsom would likely refuse to sign it into law.
Newsom has shown strong support of LGBTQ rights since.